Fall injury patterns and injury severity at Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka Degree Project in Medicine Miranda Alfredsson Programme in Medicine

Gothenburg, Sweden 2018

Supervisors:

Prof. Göran Kurlberg, Associate Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg,

Gothenburg, Sweden

Dr. Bawantha Gamage, Consultant Surgeon and Senior Lecturer in Surgery, Colombo South Teaching Hospital,

Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Colombo, Sri Lanka

SAHLGRENSKA ACADEMY

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 4

Background ................................................................................................................................ 5

Injuries .................................................................................................................................... 5

Fall injuries globally ............................................................................................................... 5

Risk factors for fall injuries .................................................................................................... 6

Injury patterns and type of fall ............................................................................................... 7

Healthcare in Sri Lanka .......................................................................................................... 8

Fall injuries in Sri Lanka and the threat of an aging population ............................................ 8

Purpose ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Material and Methods ................................................................................................................. 9

Study population and data collection ..................................................................................... 9

Statistical methods ................................................................................................................ 11

Ethics ........................................................................................................................................ 11

Results ...................................................................................................................................... 13

Population ............................................................................................................................. 14

Fall accidents and type of fall............................................................................................... 14

Circumstances of fall ............................................................................................................ 16

Fall injuries and injury severity ............................................................................................ 18

Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 22

Methodological considerations............................................................................................. 25

Future studies ....................................................................................................................... 26

Conclusions .............................................................................................................................. 27

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning....................................................................................... 28

Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................... 29

Appendices ............................................................................................................................... 30

Appendix A - Data collection form ...................................................................................... 30

Appendix B - Ethical approval ............................................................................................. 33

Appendix C - Abbreviated injury scale scoring chart .......................................................... 35

References ................................................................................................................................ 37

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Abstract

Background: Almost 650,000 people die every year because of falls, a number increasing

worldwide. Over 80% occur in low and middle-income countries. In Sri Lanka about 3% of

all deaths due to traumatic injuries are caused by falls.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the panorama of fall injuries in patients

attending the Accident Service Unit of Colombo South Teaching Hospital, including patient

demographics and injury patterns in order to suggest preventive measures.

Method: This was a cross-sectional observational study performed at the Accident Service

Unit of Colombo South Teaching Hospital September – October 2018. 342 patients were

interviewed with a questionnaire. Data was collected on demographics, trauma mechanism

and injury patterns. Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and New Injury Severity Score (NISS)

were used to evaluate and summarize the patients’ injuries.

Results: 479 injuries were recorded, 63% minor injuries with AIS 1. All injuries, but two,

were graded AIS 1-3. The most common injuries were superficial/bruise/abrasion and

fracture. There were differences between the genders and trauma mechanism, males have

more than two times higher risk of falling from height than females. The majority of fall from

height among males, were work-related. In general, the severity of the injuries among the

patients were mild measured with NISS. Males aged 18-64 years had more severe injuries

after fallen from high levels. Patients >85 years achieved significantly more severe injuries

than younger patients.

Conclusions: Working men 18-64 years have a higher risk of falling from height and sustain

severe injuries. Also, elderly people of both genders with ground level falls present with more

advanced injuries. Many of these injuries could be prevented by appropriate information to

the public and preventive measures of the risk groups.

Keywords: Fall injuries, fall from height, ground level fall, injury severity, Colombo, Sri

Lanka.

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Abbreviations

CSTH = Colombo South Teaching Hospital

ASU = Accident Service Unit

LMIC = Low- and middle-income country

AIS = Abbreviated Injury Scale

ISS = Injury Severity Score

NISS = New Injury Severity Score

WHO = World Health Organization

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Background

Injuries

Every year over 5 million people die from injuries all over the world[1], and almost 10% of

all deaths worldwide are due to injuries. It is estimated that injuries cause more deaths than

HIV, tuberculosis and malaria together[2]. In 2013 one billion people suffered from different

injuries that needed attention[3]. Injuries are in the top rank of causes of death for both men

and women in all age groups regardless of which socioeconomic group they belong to.

However, men are more often overrepresented in fatal injuries[1]. Low- and middle-income

countries (LMIC) tend to have a greater amount of injuries and also fatal injuries. Only 10 %

of all injury-related deaths occur in high in-come countries. In LMIC there are big differences

in people’s predisposition to suffer from injuries depending on their economic status. A low-

and middle-income population is more expected to not recover entirely after an injury and

will end up with a remaining disability[1].

Fall injuries globally

A fall is defined, according to World Health Organization (WHO), as an incident where a

person without intention comes to rest on the ground or another lower level than they were

before. A fall from height means therefore a fall from a higher level to a lower level[4].

Falls are often ranked high on leading causes of injuries[5-7]. WHO estimate that almost

650,000 people die every year because of falls. This makes fall come at second place on list

of causes of death by unintentional injuries[8]. 14% of all deaths as a result of injuries

worldwide is because of falls[2]. Over 80% of all deaths because of falls occur in LMIC, with

60% occurring in the Western Pacific and South East Asia[8]. Fall was one of the few injuries

were the number of deaths increased between the year of 2005 and 2015 worldwide, an

increase with 21%; this was the largest increase among all injuries[9]. Fall injuries are

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predicted to continue to increase the next fifteen years [2] and are expected to be doubled by

the year 2030. One explanation to why is because the population around the world is getting

older[10].

Risk factors for fall injuries

There are many risk factors for fall injuries; they could be divided into four groups; biological

(age, sex), behavioral (risky behavior, intake of multiple medications, intake of alcohol,

sedentary behavior), environmental (slippery floors/stairs, uneven sidewalks, poor lightning)

and socioeconomic (income, education, employment)[10].

Age is often an obvious risk factor as the human body loses strength as it gets older[10].

There are two groups in the society where fall injuries are more common, the elderly

population (>65 years) and the young (<15years)[2, 5, 10]. Studies show that the majority of

all injuries in the elderly is because of falls. The risk of suffering from a fall injury increases

with age and is highest over the age of 85 years[5]. Not many epidemiological studies about

fall injuries have been done in low- or middle income countries, but a new epidemiological

study from Bangladesh, a lower middle-income country in South-East Asia, showed that the

majority of all fall injuries occurred in the elderly[11]. Fall is the most common cause of

death in fatal injuries in older people but also the dominant reason for disability[10]. In young

people falls stand for the most common reason for morbidity[4]. A previous fall is considered

to be a major risk factor to have another fall[12]. Older patients who had experienced a fall

after the age of 50 years prior to their current fall, had twice the risk of undergoing another

fall[13] and many patients have recurrent falls[12, 14, 15]. One study of elderly patients in Sri

Lanka showed that as much as 50% of the patients had a tendency to fall[16]. Home

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environment is also associated with increased risk of falling, which also has been shown in

several studies where the majority of fall injuries occurred in the home[5-7, 11, 14].

Injury patterns and type of fall

The injury pattern for falls differs depending on different demographics. Studies have found

varied results. One study found that children and young adults tend to have more head, face

and limb injuries unlike the elderly where injuries to the waist is more common[11]. This is

similar to another study where elderly patients >80 years often received more hip and thigh

injuries[17]. Another study showed that elderly people frequently have more injuries to

head/neck, thorax and extremities/pelvis while younger people have more abdominal and

external/skin/soft tissue injuries[18]. Head injury is commonly obtained in falls in all ages and

regardless of fall height[15, 19-21]. One study however showed that older patients >65 years

had a three times greater risk of obtaining a head injury than younger patients[22]. Head

injury was the most common cause of death in fall from height in a study exploring falls

down stairs[19].

Falls can be divided into ground level falls and falls from height. Among older people ground

level falls are more common than falls from heights. Ground level falls often results in more

severe injuries in patients over 65 years old than in younger people. Especially neck/head and

extremities/pelvis injuries are more severe in an older population[18]. Likewise spine injuries

are frequently more severe[23]. One study discovered that the mortality after a ground level

fall differed when comparing younger patients <60 years and older patients, from 0,1% (<60

years) and 5,4% (>90 years), respectively[24]. Furthermore, older patients with falls from

height obtain more severe injuries and often with multiple injuries in all body regions when

compared to younger patients[23]. Many studies have found it more common for younger

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people, 20-50 years, to fall from heights, than on ground level. The majority of the patients

with falls from height were men[20, 21, 25]. Patients fallen from height often present

themselves with multiple injuries[19, 21, 25].

Healthcare in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean, located southeast of India, with its biggest city

Colombo facing west[26]. The island has almost 21 million citizens. Sri Lanka is considered a

lower middle in-come country and is a fast-growing economy[27]. The island has been

exposed to several natural disasters over the past decade and also gone through a thirty-year

long civil war. Many actions have thereafter been made for recovery. In recent years Sri

Lanka has undergone a change. The demographic and epidemiological situation of different

diseases have changed and improved, which partly can be seen as a result of the major

development of the country’s healthcare. The Sri Lankan government highly prioritizes

healthcare with focus on the public health and free healthcare. The public healthcare covers

the whole country and is greatly assisted by the private sector[26].

Fall injuries in Sri Lanka and the threat of an aging population

In Sri Lanka, traumatic injuries are the main cause for hospitalization; in 2008 about 850,000

admissions were because of injuries. About 3% of all deaths due to traumatic injuries are

caused by falls, which makes it one of the greatest causes of death among traumatic

injuries[26]. A challenge the country faces in the near future is the fast aging of the

population. In 2012 the elderly population (>60 years old) accounted for 12.2% of the total

population and by 2031 they are expected to account for 18.6% of the total population, which

means an addition of 1,5 million people[28]. This will likely increase the fall incidence as an

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aging population seems to trigger an increase in fall injuries as older people generally have a

higher risk of falling[10].

Purpose

The aim of this study was to explore the panorama of fall injuries in patients attending the

Accident Service Unit (ASU) of Colombo South Teaching Hospital (CSTH), including patient

demographics, circumstances, trauma mechanism and injury patterns to identify possible risk

groups in order to suggest preventive measures.

Material and Methods

Study population and data collection

This cross-sectional observational study was performed at the ASU at Colombo South

Teaching Hospital, Kalubowila, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Data was collected on weekdays from

September 19 to October 31, between 9 am – 5 pm. Inclusion criteria were an age above 18

years, a clear history of a fall, and that the patient could communicate in English, Sinhala or

Tamil. Only adults were included in this study because of the fact that many children are

taken to a nearby Children’s hospital instead of CSTH. Patients with fall injuries due to a road

traffic accident were excluded. Patients who met the inclusion criteria and visited the ASU

during the time the researcher was working were interviewed with a data collection form. If

the patients visited the ASU and were treated and discharged when the researcher was not

there, they were excluded. Accordingly, patients could not be included and were missed if

they visited the ASU outside of working hours (9 am – 5 pm), with exception of the patients

still being admitted during these hours. The admission-books in the wards were searched

every day in order to find patients who had been admitted during evenings/nights and

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weekends when the researcher was not at the ASU. A flowchart of the research and inclusion

process is seen in Figure 1.

The questioning was, if needed, performed with the help of a research assistant or medical

staff who could interpret non-English speaking patients. If the patient had difficulty

communicating or giving the information required, the patients’ family, relatives or treating

medical staff were questioned. Every patients’ medical records and, if available, x-rays were

thereafter reviewed in order to evaluate the injuries.

The data collection form used in this study was made using the WHO injury surveillance

guidelines[1]. Information collected about the patient in the data collection form was:

demographics (age, sex, education, occupation and income), circumstances regarding the fall

(time, weather, location of the fall and area, activity when the fall happened, height or ground

level, which height, fall from certain object, intent, experienced a fall before), the injuries

(localization, type of injury, severity and if the patient was admitted to hospital) and risk-

factor for fall (under the influence of alcohol at the time of the fall) (Appendix A). The

severity of the injuries obtained by the patients was evaluated using the Abbreviated Injury

Scale (AIS) (Appendix C)[29]. The injuries were classified by body region (head/neck/spine,

face, thorax, abdomen, extremities/pelvis, external) and type of injury (no injury, superficial

injury/bruise/abrasion, cut/laceration/open wound, strain/sprain/dislocation, fracture, internal

injury/organ injury, other injuries) and were scored a number between 0-6 according to

severity. Number 1 was a minor injury and 6 was a non-survivable injury. Number 0 counted

as no injury. The AIS score was later used in the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) to

summarize the patient’s injuries into a single score. The NISS was obtained by squaring the

AIS scores from the patients’ three most severe injuries and adding them. This gives you a

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number between 1-75[30]. An AIS score of 6 (e.g. a non-survivable injury) gives the patient

the maximum NISS score of 75 automatically, regardless of the patient’s other injuries[29].

The NISS is used as a mortality and survival prediction, where a high score in NISS indicates

more severe injuries and a higher risk of dying[30].

Statistical methods

The data was collected anonymously and compiled in Microsoft Excel before analysed in

IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Descriptive statistics were

used to study the demographics and circumstances of the falls in the study population. To find

statistically significant differences between gender and various age groups crosstabs and chi-

square tests were used, specifically Fisher’s exact test because of small sample sizes. To

further investigate various age groups involvement in falls an ANOVA test was performed.

Two independent-sample T-test and T-test for several independent samples were used when

comparing injury severity and different groups. In order to identify risks and comparing risks

among different age groups and gender a logistic regression was done.

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Figure 1. Flowchart of research and inclusion process. ASU=Accident Service Unit, CSTH=Colombo South

Teaching Hospital, RTA=Road traffic accident.

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Ethics

This study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee at the Faculty of Medical Sciences,

University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Appendix B). It has aligned to the principles of the

Helsinki declaration. The patients were given information about the study when they were

asked to participate. All participation in this study was completely voluntary and consent were

given by all the included patients both verbally and written before the start of the questioning.

The consent forms existed in English, Sinhala and Tamil and were created with guidance

from WHO’s templates for consent form[31]. The data collection form existed in both English

and Sinhala. If the signing of the consent form could not be done by the patients, for example

due to the injuries obtained, the help from the patients’ relatives were used. All data collected

was kept confidential. The researcher has not interfered or purposely delayed the care or

treatment of the patient.

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Results

Population

345 patients were interviewed during the study period. After added information 3 patients

were excluded since they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Eventually 342 patients were

included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 53 years, with ages ranged

between 18-101 years. The median age of the participants was 54 years. Out of the included

342 patients 46% (n=157) were males (mean age 48 years, median 47 years) and 54%

(n=185) were females (mean age 58 years, median 61 years). Two thirds of the patients were

< 65 years old (67%). 95.6% of the patients had an education while 4.4% had no education.

57.6% of the patients reported a monthly income above 24000 LKR and 42.4% had a monthly

income less than that.

Fall accidents and type of fall

In this study a fall from height was considered a fall from all heights above ground level, i.e.,

above 30 cm. Of the 342 fall accidents included in this study the majority of them had falls

from ground level (Fig. 2). 234 patients had fallen from ground level and 108 patients had

fallen from height. There was a difference between the genders, with the number of patients

who had a ground level fall or fall from height. This difference was found statistically

significant (p<0.001) (Table.1). Males have a higher risk of falling from height than females

with an Odds Ratio of 2.42, 95% Confidence Interval 1.48-3.96 (p<0.001).

Distribution of the mechanism of fall between age groups, defined as 18-44 years, 45-64

years, 65-84 years and 85+ years, and gender can be seen in Figure 3. When dividing the

patients into these four subgroups there was a significant difference between the groups

whether they had a ground level fall or fall from height (p<0.001). After comparing the two

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middle groups (44-64 years and 65-84 years) with the oldest group (85+ years) they both

showed a marginally higher risk of falling from height, but this result was not significant

(p=0.356, p=0.743). When comparing the youngest patients (18-44 years) with the oldest

patients (85+ years) they showed a three times higher risk of falling from height, however not

significant (p=0.055). Viewing the difference of the number of patients with ground level fall

or fall from height, divided into older or younger than 65 years old, 80% of the patients over

65 years old had a ground level fall compared with 20% who had a fall from height. About

one third of the patients (32.8%) had experienced a fall previously. In the older age group,

85+ years, the majority of the patients had experienced a fall earlier, while in the younger age

groups a smaller proportion of the patients had previous falls. In the youngest group (18-44

years) less than 20% of the patients had fallen before. Slightly more than half (52.7%) of the

patients who had experienced a fall earlier had fallen within the last year.

Figure 2. Distribution of ground level falls and falls from height among the patients at ASU, CSTH.

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Table 1. Male and female patients divided in to type of fall; ground level fall or fall from height.

Type of fall * Gender Crosstabulation

Gender

Total Male Female

Type of fall Ground level Count 88 146 234

% within Type of fall 37.6% 62.4% 100.0%

Height Count 69 39 108

% within Type of fall 63.9% 36.1% 100.0%

Total 157 185 342 Fisher’s Exact Test, p<0.001

Figure 3. Number of fall accidents that occurred among female and male patients divided into age groups in ground level fall and fall from height.

Circumstances of fall

The most common location of the falls was at home (60.5%), followed by at work (23.4%),

street (10.2%), other (4.4%) and school (1.5%). Regarding the mechanisms of the fall, the

distribution of location differed slightly between ground level fall and fall from height (Fig.

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4). There was also a difference in location between male and female, where over 75% of all

falls among females happened at home compared with 43% among males. Among females

with ground level fall or fall from height and males with ground level falls home was the most

common location of the fall. However, among males fallen from height the most common

location of the fall was at work (59.4%).

Figure 4. Location of the falls divided in to ground level falls and falls from height.

64% of the fall accidents occurred when the patients had leisure time, 24.3% happened when

they were working or studying and 11.7% occurred when they were participating in other

activities. There was a difference in activity when falling between ground level falls (68.8%

leisure time, 16.2% working/studying and 15.0% other activities) and falls from height

(53.7% leisure time, 41.7% working/studying and 4.6% other activities). Of those falling from

height while working 89% were male (40 patients out of 45 total). Comparing males and

females, 74.1% of all falls amongst females where during leisure time in contrast to 52.2%

among males. Females with ground level falls or falls from height and males with ground

level falls had the majority of their falls during leisure time. Unlike males fallen from height,

where it was more common to be working at the time of the fall (58%).

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Among the patients fallen from height, 40 (37.7%) patients had fallen from building/ladder,

38 (35.8%) from staircase, 26 (24.5%) from other and 2 (1.9%) from a tree. Data shows that

72.5% of those who fell from a building or a ladder were working or studying. All but two of

the patients fallen from a building/ladder were males and the two patients fallen from a tree

were males. The falls in a staircase or from other objects were more evenly distributed

between males and females.

The height of the falls varied between 30 cm to 18 meters, mean fall height 2.5 meters. Data

of fall height was missing in two cases. The majority of the falls were from under 3 meters

(79.2%). Of the 22 falls above 3 meters recorded, all but one were males. Nearly all of the fall

accidents happened during weekdays (92.4%). The most common time for fall accidents was

in the morning, 5 am – 11 am (41.1%). 58.9% of the falls occurred during sunny weather,

22% during rain and 12.8% when it was dark. Alcohol intake prior to the fall accident was

admitted or suspected in 5 cases (1.5%), all of them male. Two of the falls were due to

intentional falls, whereof one was fall from height and one a ground level fall.

Fall injuries and injury severity

During this study 479 injuries were recorded among 342 patients. In two of the patients,

injury information was missing. Amongst the patients it was most common (73%) to obtain

one injury and more uncommon with two or more injuries. The most common injury was

external superficial injury, bruise or abrasion 38% (n=182), thereafter fracture in extremities

27.8% (n=133) and external cut, laceration or open wound 11.5% (n=55) (Table 2). The

distribution of the grade of severity among the 479 injuries recorded were 63.0% (n=302)

minor injuries, 18.0% (n=86) moderate, 18.6% (n=89) serious, 0.2% (n=1) severe and 0.2%

(1=) critical (Table 3). No maximum/non-survivable injury was recorded in this study.

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Table 2. Distribution of injuries according to type of injury and severity of the injuries in patients with fall accidents.

Injuries % of injuries

Minimal AIS

Maximal AIS

Mean AIS

External - Superficial injury/bruise/abrasion 182 38.0% 1 1 1.00

Extremities - Fracture 133 27.8% 1 3 2.46

External - Cut/laceration/open wound 55 11.5% 1 2 1.09

Head, neck and spine - Strain/sprain/dislocation 34 7.1% 1 2 1.03

Extremities - Strain/sprain/dislocation 25 5.2% 1 3 1.32

Head, neck and spine - Internal injury/organ injury 24 5.0% 1 5 2.50

Head, neck and spine - Fracture 12 2.5% 2 3 2.33

Thorax - Fracture 5 1.0% 1 4 2.00

Face - Superficial injury/bruise/abrasion 2 0.4% 1 1 1.00

Face - Cut/laceration/open wound 2 0.4% 1 1 1.00

Face - Fracture 2 0.4% 1 2 1.50

Abdomen - Internal injury/organ injury 2 0.4% 2 3 2.50

Thorax - Internal injury/organ injury 1 0.2% 3 3 3.00

AIS=Abbreviated Injury Scale.

Table 3. Distribution of injuries according to AIS in patients with fall accidents.

AIS Number of injuries % of injuries

1 302 63% 2 86 18% 3 89 18.6% 4 1 0.2% 5 1 0.2% 6 0 0%

AIS=Abbreviated Injury Scale.

92% of all patients in this study had a NISS equal to or under 9. NISS mean for the population

was 4.2. The NISS scored for men ranged between 1 to 27 and for women between 1 to 13.

Mean NISS for male patients was 4.1 and for female patients 4.3. This difference was not

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significant (p=0.524). The mean NISS varied between different age groups, with mean NISS

of 3.3, 3.5, 5.4 and 8.3 for the four age groups 18-44 years, 45-64 years, 65-84 years and 85+

years, respectively (Fig. 5). When comparing them, the patients in the two older age groups,

65-84 years and 85+ years have a significantly higher NISS than the younger patients in the

two younger age groups (p=0.004, p<0.001). The oldest patients (85+ years) have a

significantly higher NISS when compared to all of the younger age groups (p<0.001, p<0.001,

p=0.005). There was however no significant difference when comparing mean NISS between

the two younger age groups (p=0.974).

When also considering gender and type of fall a few groups stands out with more severe

injuries (mean NISS) (Fig. 6). Besides the elderly 85+ years with ground level falls, also the

young men ages 18-44 years and 45-64 years fallen from height. Males aged 45-64 years

showed a statistically significant difference with more severe injuries than the corresponding

group of males with ground level falls (mean NISS 5.9 vs 2.5, p=0.032) and females with

falls from height in the same age (mean NISS 5.9 vs 1.9, p=0.034). This trend could also be

seen when comparing males aged 18-44 years to the corresponding males with ground level

falls (mean NISS 4.3 vs 2.9) and females with falls from height in the same age (mean NISS

4.3 vs 2.4). This difference was however not statistically significant, p=0.424 and p=0.062

respectively. Among admitted patients the mean NISS was 6.1 and for patients who were

treated and discharged 1.8, this was a significant difference (p<0.001). There was no

significant difference (p=0.481) in injury severity between the patients fallen from height

(mean NISS 4.3) and patients with ground level falls (mean NISS 4.2).

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Figure 5. Mean NISS for different age groups. NISS=New Injury Severity Score.

Figure 6. Mean NISS for all age groups and genders in different types of fall. NISS=New Injury Severity Score.

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Discussion

This was a questionnaire-based study conducted at the ASU at CSTH. 342 patients were

interviewed with the purpose to study fall accident; what kind of injuries you obtain and see

who is affected in order to find groups where fall prevention should be focused.

The population in this study was young with two thirds of the subjects being younger than 65

years, which is similar to what is reported by Wadhwanyia et al.[11]. Other studies on fall

accidents and fall injuries in Sri Lanka have however focused on older people[12, 13] which

makes this study a suitable complement to previous studies as it focus on the entire panorama

of fall injuries and with its result covering a younger population, especially the group of

young men.

This study showed that males have a more than two times higher risk of falling from height

than females. Earlier studies that have looked at falls from heights report that the majority of

the subjects are men[20, 21, 25], which may suggest that men are at a higher risk of falling

from height. In an attempt to try to find an explanation to this result you could consider

factors such as type of work sector. The male population may tend to take on more risky and

dangerous occupations than females, for example building and construction sector, which

expose them to a more dangerous work environment (e.g. heights). This study also found that

there was a clear difference between the genders regarding the location of the fall and the

activity at the time of the fall. Especially fall from height showed this difference with the

majority of males being at work working at the time of the accident. This is consistent with

another study looking at the pattern of injury in falls from height which also saw this

tendency, with a great part of the falls from height being work-related. Further, not one single

female with work-related fall from height was reported in that study[25]. An explanation to

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the differences in circumstances surrounding falls may be found looking at employment of the

population. When viewing employment of the population as a whole, in the Sri Lankan

society a larger part of the female population (compared to many high-income countries) is

unemployed and staying at home as housewives, which could explain why the majority of fall

accidents among females occur at home. Besides males fallen from height the most common

location of the falls for the population was at home, which align with numerous studies on fall

accidents[5-7, 11, 14].

As working young men are the ones falling from height it is imaginable that this have a big

impact on the individual but also in a larger context. A fall accident could cause the individual

a great amount of suffering and also cause disability. Younger people are seen to have higher

morbidity because of falls[4]. However, in Sri Lanka this result could also have a big

consequence as the majority of the male population provide for their family and sometimes

are the only one with an income. Therefore, in case of a fall injury they could leave their

entire family with economy problems, because of absence of work and for example expenses

such as medical supplies etc. Not only the individuals are affected but also the community,

such as productivity loss and medical cost. The above mentioned reasons are numerous

reasons why it would be profitable to focus on preventive measures considering this group.

The number of work-related falls among males fallen from heights was high. Another study

of work-related accidents showed that nearly 1 million people get injured at work each

day[32], which makes it a global problem. To think that these accidents are preventable is

most likely, in the terms of safety and safety precautions. This is also suggested in studies

which shows that the majority of the accidents is caused by behavioral factors[33, 34], thus

being preventable.

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In this study a fall from height was considered a fall from a higher level to a lower, hence

including falls from 30 cm up to 18 meters. A trend was found that males 18-64 years as a

group showed more severe injuries, with higher mean NISS, when fallen from height than

females fallen from height or males with ground level falls in the same ages. One reason for

this could be as mentioned above that males in these ages have more falls from height. For

example, all falls but one above 3 meters were males, which show that even though there was

a group of females falling from height the height was lower than the height among the male

falls. This would in that case be in line with findings in previous studies[15, 25].

Another group that showed significantly more severe injuries and a higher mean NISS was

the older patients over the age of 85 years, regardless of gender and type of fall. Considering

the number of patients in this group being few (n=23) any conclusions have to be made with

great care. However, these findings are likewise shown in other studies examining fall

injuries[17, 22, 23]. This seems reasonable since the human body loses strength as it gets

older as well as speed of reflexes that protect against injuries with the result of more severe

injuries. Moreover, older people tend to limit their exposure to heights. As mentioned above

there are much to gain by preventing falls. Many of the falls in the elderly are preventable,

thus ease any suffering from fall injuries. Similar to falls in younger people the cost (e.g.

suffering and economical) of a fall injury is high, with medical costs and the indirect cost

when family members stay home to care for their relatives.

External superficial injury, bruise or abrasion was the most common injury followed by

fractures in extremities and external cut, laceration or open wound. This is not surprising

considering the population being rather young with two thirds of the patients younger than 65

25

years old and also with the majority of the falls being ground level falls. This is furthermore

shown in the distribution of severity of the injuries, with the majority of the injuries being

minor. Additionally, both Arbes et al.[15] and Sterling et al.[18] reported a high amount of

external injuries. Still, many earlier studies on injury pattern of falls have either focused on

fatal injuries[15, 19, 21], on specific age groups[18] or specific type of fall[22] Thus, the

number of studies found on non-fatal injuries within the same age range and with merged fall

types is limited. The strength of this study is its focus on blended age groups, falls from

ground and high level, as well as different injuries following fall accidents.

Methodological considerations

Another strength with this study is the number of cases (n=342) collected that covered all

ages and not only focused on one age group or type of fall. This presented a good picture of

the fall panorama in south Colombo and surrounding areas.

Since the data collection only occurred during daytime on weekdays patients arriving to the

ASU outside working hours were not included in the study (e.g. nights and weekends).

Furthermore, patients who were admitted and discharged or transferred outside working hours

were missed. A few patients were also overlooked when the researcher was at the hospital.

The reason for this was both that there was only one person to cover the ASU and the wards

at the same time. This also happened because of misunderstanding between the researcher and

hospital staff or the patient.

Further, the unknown number of patients who was overlooked because of language

difficulties has to be mentioned. There were individuals who had trouble understanding

English and written Sinhala, which made their participation impossible when no help with

26

interpretation was available. Additionally, patients who were admitted and could not

communicate due to medical conditions or other reasons or did not have relatives to speak on

their behalf, could not participate. Consequently, patients severely injured, with no relatives

present could not be heard, thus possibly affecting the result of the injury pattern.

Nevertheless, an observation made was that most of these patients tended to be older patients

having a poor general condition affecting their ability to communicate.

One limitation was the assessment of the injuries according to AIS. Even though estimation

tools were used, as the Abbreviated Injury Scale scoring chart (Appendix C)[29], it can be

difficult to make the correct assessment of the injuries as a clinically unpractised researcher

but also as a researcher with inexperience of using the scale. If all the injuries were assessed

by someone who is trained of utilizing AIS, this limitation could be avoided. Nevertheless, in

this study all the assessments were made by one researcher, which would prevent any bias

that may emerge when different people make assessments.

Another limitation was that most of the severe head traumas and spinal cord injuries were

taken to other hospitals specialized in these conditions, since CSTH does not offer

neurosurgery. Additionally, the hospital does not offer thorax surgery. This could have

affected the injury pattern and several severe injuries would not have been included.

Considering head injuries being a common injury following a fall this could be an important

limitation[15, 19-21].

Future studies

This was a small study conducted for a limited time at only one big government hospital. To

make the results of this study more demonstrative and become more representative for larger

27

populations, future studies should include a bigger population from different hospitals, both

public and private. They should also be carried out during a longer time to be able to engage

as many fall accidents as possible. Preferably with researchers, speaking the local language as

this would avoid the language barrier and some misunderstandings and make the data

collection more time efficient and more reliable. It is also desirable with numerous

researchers who can cover the ASU at all hours to avoid missing cases. It would be interesting

to explore the reasons for the falls. The majority of the falls happens at home but to be able to

be more specific in the kind of prevention actions that should be made this must be

investigated further. Additional investigation among working men falling from height is

welcomed to further understand how extensive this problem could be.

Conclusions

A ground level fall was the most common type of fall among the patients. The most common

location of the falls was at a home environment. This pattern was shown in all ages, gender

and fall types, except among men fallen from height where the workplace was the most

common location. Almost all falls from height in men were revealed to be work-related.

This study showed that men have more than two times as high risk of falling from height than

women, which also is in line with previous studies.

Compared to other trials this study showed a younger population sustaining fall injuries, with

two thirds of the participants under the age of 65 years. This could indicate that Sri Lanka, as

a LMIC, have another distribution of fall injuries.

The majority of the fall injuries in this study was shown to be minor, with superficial injuries

and fractures being the most common injuries. Although the majority of the injuries were

mild, they can still cause unnecessary suffering.

28

Working men 18-64 years were shown to be an exposed group, with a higher risk of falling

from height and also sustain more severe injuries. Also, elderly people of both sexes with

ground level falls present themselves with more severe injuries. Consequently, these groups

are more disposed to suffering and disability, which can be avoided as many fall accidents are

preventable.

Seeing that work-related fall injuries among men and falls in older people cause unnecessary

suffering and disability and are not only affecting the individual it can be of importance to

focus prevention on these groups. One example could be to look over security precautions on

workplaces, especially work at heights but additional studies in this area is required to further

understand the problem and see what kind of preventive measures that are needed.

Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning

Fallolyckor och allvarlighetsgraden av uppkomna skador på Colombo South Teaching

Hospital, Sri Lanka

Varje år dör nästan 650 000 människor världen över i fall och fallolyckor. Antalet fall och

fallolyckor ökar globalt och lika så dödsolyckor. Man har sett att majoriteten av alla

dödsolyckor sker i låg- och medelinkomstländer, dit Sri Lanka räknas. På Sri Lanka är den

näst vanligaste traumatiska dödsorsaken fallolyckor.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka fallskador hos patienter som besökte

akutmottagningen på Colombo South Teaching Hospital. Detta för att bättre förstå vilka som

drabbas och vilka skador de får i fallen för att kunna se vart förebyggande åtgärder behövs.

Studien genomfördes mellan september och oktober 2018 och sammanlagt samlades det in

information från 342 vuxna patienter. Patienterna intervjuades med hjälp av en enkät med

frågor om ålder, kön, ekonomisk status, typ av fall, fallhöjd och skador m.m. Journalerna

tittades även igenom för att kunna bedöma skadorna patienterna fått.

29

I den här studien inhämtades information om totalt 479 skador. Av dessa skador var

majoriteten milda. De vanligaste skadorna efter ett fall var ytliga skador, så som blåmärken

och skrapsår och de näst vanligaste var frakturer i armar och ben. Deltagarna i studien var

ganska unga med två tredjedelar under 65 års ålder. Denna studien visade att män har en

dubbelt så hög risk att falla från hög höjd än kvinnor. Den visade även att de flesta fall från

hög höjd hos män var arbetsrelaterade. En förklaring till dessa resultat skulle kunna vara att

fler män har arbeten som utsätter dem för höga höjder.

Generellt var allvarlighetsgraden på skadorna hos patienterna låg. Två utsatta grupper som

oftare får allvarligare skador visade sig vara män 18–64 år som faller från hög höjd och

patienter över 85 års ålder som faller från markplan.

Många fallolyckor kan förhindras och de orsakar mycket onödigt lidande. De identifierade

grupperna i denna studien kan vara grupper där förebyggande åtgärder kan vara av betydelse.

Acknowledgement

First and foremost, I would like to thank the amazing doctors, nurses and other staff at

Colombo South Teaching Hospital and especially at the Accident Service Unit for their

friendliness and help in this study. All their contributions were invaluable. I also would like to

thank my two supervisors, Prof. Göran Kurlberg and Dr. Bawantha Gamage for their support

and guidance. A special thanks to Ms. Amali Ranasinghe for all her invaluable help with

interpretation at the hospital and administrative help in applying for the ethical approval.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to The Swedish International Development Cooperation

Agency (SIDA) and Landénska Donation Fund for their economical contribution and making

this study possible.

30

Appendices

Appendix A - Data collection form

31

32

33

Appendix B - Ethical approval

34

35

Appendix C - Abbreviated injury scale scoring chart

36

37

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